Bean bites me (on camera)
Added 2020-10-20 17:00:02 +0000 UTCFirst time for everything. =/
Comments
Oh my goodness gracious this helps me so much. I have an African Grey as well and I'm just so grateful that you showed the SUBTLE changes in body language. I can completely see it and it's going to help me spot these things with my grey.
Kristen
2021-03-07 16:47:24 +0000 UTCOmg this perfectly encapsulates the "entitled to treats" attitude I get from Cheeky! Cheeky gets into moods where he will bite me or demand training for treats but forcefully take the treat and throw it or be rude. Then I'm scared to put him away because it usually just escalates the situation. For anyone who saw me rudely take over the Zoom live that was topic-less in January: this is what I'm talking about. (Btw I'm sorry about that I promise I won't keep doing that!) I keep trying to get it on camera but Cheeky has phone aggression, especially when he's like this.
Catrin Griffiths
2021-02-13 20:51:01 +0000 UTCI totally was feeling the negative vibes Mr. Bean was giving you. You handled that better than I would have.
Crystal O'Kelly
2020-10-28 22:49:03 +0000 UTCThank you for all the kind comments you guys! xo
BirdTricks
2020-10-25 03:28:28 +0000 UTCUnlikely on hormones since it was still summer when this was filmed
BirdTricks
2020-10-25 03:26:20 +0000 UTCHahaha thanks Jen!
BirdTricks
2020-10-25 03:25:57 +0000 UTCFU feathers is definitely the best description! It’s EXACTLY what they are and what he/she is telling you in the moment! It should really be the scientific name for sure 😂
Jennifer Percopo
2020-10-23 23:19:17 +0000 UTCAw, lol, yeah, it's a term we use. Much like family friendly parrot formula, permission based training, theo motivation level (lol), the power pause, random rewarding, etc. Just terminology we've used to better explain things on a more introduction level that stuck!
BirdTricks
2020-10-23 16:37:38 +0000 UTCI think it might be a BirdTricks specific term.
Carmen Griggs
2020-10-23 15:12:10 +0000 UTCThank you. I even Google it 😂 stupid non native speaker 😅🙈
Lucia Hellerhoff
2020-10-22 15:33:45 +0000 UTCA few feathers - basically whichever feathers they raise to show they are angry or anxious, so also FU feathers.
Carmen Griggs
2020-10-22 15:27:13 +0000 UTCWhat means FU feathers? 🤔
Lucia Hellerhoff
2020-10-22 07:01:40 +0000 UTCLucia, I had a cockatiel. I never saw him raise his back feathers in anger. He would raise his neck feathers in greeting or when he liked something. His FU feathers were crest slicked straight back, not curled up at the end. Also, he would crouch down if he was really annoyed and about to attack. That was aggressive anger. Super angry was wings up and charging at you. If he was afraid he would do the classic cockatiel cobra dance and hiss. I don't know what may have been specific to him or to the species as I only have experience with the one bird. He was mostly a sweet little guy, but also had a temper. We saw a lot of FU feathers out of him. Fortunately he NEVER bit to hurt no matter what was happening, not even the Vet who he was sure was going to kill him. The bad temper and bad bites would have made him intolerable. As it was just the cranky with "corrective" no-hurt bites was something we could manage without feeling the need to train it out of him. We did try to take him seriously and not make him feel bad even if he was like an angry Easter Peep. 🤣
Holden Kendrick
2020-10-21 19:55:53 +0000 UTCThanks for showing us the difficult days at least occasionally. I've never trained a bird, but based on horse training and cat training, some days you just have to fight for status quo. I really enjoy the body language cues. I could totally see the raised back feathers thing. Could he be hormonal too?
Barbara Stone
2020-10-21 19:29:16 +0000 UTCPoor Bean! My baby pionus doesn't seems to do much with his feathers, at least not yet, but he does release a scent when he is excited. He can be happy excited or upset excited, same scent. It's something clear I can read with context. He also chatters when he's anxious.
Holden Kendrick
2020-10-21 19:27:14 +0000 UTCPoor Bean
Diane
2020-10-21 18:20:18 +0000 UTCGreat video! Thank you for explaining so detailed! 👌Does the described body language relate to most parrot species or is this special for an African grey ? (I have a cockatiel)
Lucia Hellerhoff
2020-10-21 15:58:29 +0000 UTCThis is amazing. You explained his body language clearly and it really helps to see the difference between head scratches and FU feathers.
Brandon Edgecomb
2020-10-21 15:45:21 +0000 UTCI agree - it did look like he snatched that treat at the end, almost impatient! Looking forward to see how you got on with the large cage indoors. You're doing a fab job and he's lucky to have you x
Gina Zeelie
2020-10-21 07:18:08 +0000 UTCSeeing you work with Bean has helped me so so so much! I recently rescued an Amazon, that was just going from house to house. He had very serious health issues, which some vets told me flat out he wasn't going to make it! But here we are with the natural feeding system getting all better!!! Now the only problem is he is super aggressive and scared of everything! He refuses to play with toys or leave a specific area, unless its for food and attacks literally anyone. It's actually scary! In one of your videos you mentioned that Amazons are like fire trucks with their body language, welp... my fire tuck is always on!!! He is always screaming and his feathers are ruffled like crazy, his tail fans out when he sees me and definitely hates hates hates to hear me speak (I remember one of your Galah cockatoos don'tlike to hear you talk either). Literally the only times he is calm around me is when I have food 🙄 any other time he will attack me. He is my first bird, and I will not give up on him but you guys sure have taught me a lot and I definitely enjoy watching you guys work with Bean because it actually answers a lot of my questions. When I watch your videos I get like 10 more questions but I'll save them for a consultation that will hopefully happen soon! Watching you get bit showed me that it happens to the best of us. So I'll just keep on trying! Thank you guys for everything!
Anilu Vega
2020-10-20 21:44:17 +0000 UTCMy grey bops her nose exactly like that (on the side ridge) when she falls from hanging, because we don’t fly. I would bet folding money Bean was bat-hanging and fell, and is the kind of guy that gets angry when he hits his head. My bird is growing wings, but so far they only help her steer the fall. (No lift yet). She is always cranky, embarrassed, or “off” for a good almost 2 days, and I have to be careful not to cause incidents. I have to focus hard to ignore anything negative (turn away) and be warm and attentive when she interacts friendly. (When she realizes she’s alone, she begs). She comes back to herself in a day or so, and I like that better than “making her better.” I feel like placating her and actively searching for a comforting solution to situations already over is a kind of enabling that D&JL would not advocate purposely. You guys always allow birds to grow through their fears and upsets, and you avoid making it worse and introducing accidental opportunities for failure. Thanks for sharing the hard days too. When I see experienced handlers respecting the beaky attitude, I feel better about my own sensitivity to it. Sometimes I get really down in myself for my beak fears, but maybe I just have a healthy response too. If so, I need to improve our other areas so that those moments are fewer, not force myself to reach when my distrust feathers are tickled. I’m not so experienced as JL, but if I can offer opinion, give space and ask for nothing while bean is not bean. Asking for it might really be asking for it. Can’t wait to meet you for my consults. Hugs from Wisconsin.
ShelB
2020-10-20 20:35:41 +0000 UTCWe knew Bean was a long project. It sounds like Bondi nipped him? I couldnt tell if they were in separate cages. Inknow you will get him through this. Great video for seeing those “mean” feathers. These guys have so much personality!! Its a lot to navigate!!
Nancie Rogers
2020-10-20 20:30:06 +0000 UTCWhen he nipped at your finger when he was on your hand, that seemed more like a “hey human pay more attention to me” kind of nip. I was really expecting a bite from your description and I’m glad it wasn’t because bites hurt!! But his aggressive posturing was quite clear. Tucker does something like this when I ask for a step up, but instead of head down for pets he is beak out and will push away your hand or whatever you are asking him to step on. A very clear no. Is it possible he now associates you with his recent bad experiences and is just in a bad mood with you because of it?
Carmen Griggs
2020-10-20 20:24:37 +0000 UTCMy grey gets obsessed with the head pets and will nip at me if he doesn’t get them as much as he wants them. So sounds like I need to make sure I’m not reinforcing bad behavior by giving him his way to get him to cooperate and step up.
Shelah Moore
2020-10-20 20:22:04 +0000 UTCCould really be any of that, that it's overwhelming for sure.
BirdTricks
2020-10-20 19:30:30 +0000 UTCI don't believe it's connected to hormones because of the daylight hours he was getting, and also I filmed this before fall came around.
BirdTricks
2020-10-20 19:29:47 +0000 UTCThank you, I'm glad!
BirdTricks
2020-10-20 19:26:41 +0000 UTCi wonder if it's a case of a bit of jealousy (or something like it...) eg, "how dare you have all these other birds!" etc etc. like he's ok with Bondi, as long as she keeps her distance... but then there's all these other birds too. maybe it's just 'too much' for him. but what do i know? xD bean's pretty hard for me to read, a lot of the time.
tzxazrael
2020-10-20 18:50:57 +0000 UTCWow this video helps me more than you know! We could see exactly what you described, the asking for pets instead of stepping up, but head a little cocked and the FU feathers all up. Also that clicking, I was going to ask what that was about. That’s super tough, when the head immediately goes down (in a good or bad way) when you ask for a step up, it’s like ok, now what?
Jennifer Percopo
2020-10-20 18:44:34 +0000 UTCI did see some aggressive behavior as you did, especially when you went close on him to show his injury. His eyes were pinning repeatedly and ive seen that look before. Also, my timneh does that click when she is annoyed as well, so I agree with you on the clicking, its not a happy or content sound. Thanks for sharing and I hope Bean feels better soon
Jodi
2020-10-20 18:33:52 +0000 UTCIs it possible that this connected to hormonal behavior? He wasn’t doing other behaviors that indicated it was hormonal, but I do recall that you said birds experience hormonal changes in the fall and spring.
Beckie Child
2020-10-20 17:29:33 +0000 UTCYES Jaime... Seeing you work through these things in "real time" is so helpful! Your narrative describing what you were seeing also reinforced what I've been learning from you and from my birds... Y'all are great teachers (referring to you, Dave, Capri and of course my feathered instructors)... Thanks for this video!
Teresa Kernodle
2020-10-20 17:27:15 +0000 UTC
